Divine Principle - 2) Moses and Jesus in the Providence of Restoration - 3

[대태양/김현수]

Section 3. The Providence of Restoration under the Leadership of Jesus

In the beginning, Adam should have governed the angels (I Cor. 6:3); but due to his fall, human beings came under Satan’s dominion and formed a hellish world. To restore this through indemnity, Jesus came as the second Adam to personally bring Satan to submission and establish the Kingdom of Heaven. However, Satan, who does not submit even to God, would by no means readily yield to Jesus and people of faith. Therefore, taking responsibility for having created human beings, God raised up Jacob and Moses and revealed through them the model course by which Jesus could subjugate Satan (cf. Moses and Jesus 1).

Jacob walked the symbolic course to bring Satan to submission, while Moses walked the image course. Their courses pioneered the way for Jesus to walk the actual course. In walking the worldwide course to restore Canaan, Jesus followed the model demonstrated in the national course to restore Canaan when Moses was working to subjugate Satan.

God told Moses, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him” (Deut. 18:18). By “a prophet like you,” God was referring to Jesus, who was to walk the same course Moses walked. When Jesus said, “the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise” (John 5:19), he meant that God had revealed the model course through Moses and that he was following in Moses’ footsteps.

Let us examine the providence of restoration centered on Jesus, drawing relevant comparisons between the three national courses to restore Canaan under Moses’ leadership and the three worldwide courses to restore Canaan under Jesus’ leadership.

3.1 The First Worldwide Course to Restore Canaan

3.1.1 The Foundation of Faith

In the first worldwide course to restore Canaan, the central figure entrusted with the mission to restore the foundation of faith was John the Baptist. From what position was John supposed to accomplish this mission?

In the national course to restore Canaan under Moses’ leadership, Moses broke the tablets of stone and struck the rock twice. This set up conditions for Satan to strike the body of Jesus – the fulfillment of the tablets and the rock – should the Jewish people of his day not believe in him.

For Jesus to be released from this condition, the chosen people entrusted with the mission to prepare for his coming should have united around the Temple, the image representation of the Messiah who was to come. However, over the years the Israelites repeatedly lapsed into faithlessness and thus multiplied conditions for Satan to attack Jesus. To erase these conditions, God sent the prophet Elijah. Elijah worked to separate Satan by defeating the prophets of Baal and Asherah, 850 altogether (I Kings 18:19), and then ascended to heaven (II Kings 2:11). Yet, because Elijah did not complete his entire mission he had to return (Mal. 4:5). John the Baptist was the prophet who came as Elijah (Matt. 11:14); (Matt. 17:13) to complete this unfinished mission to separate Satan and make straight the way of the Lord (John 1:23).

The Israelites had suffered hardships in Egypt for four hundred years without a prophet to guide them. They finally met Moses, the one man who could lead them into Canaan as a nation in preparation to receive the Messiah. In a similar fashion, the Jewish people suffered all kinds of tribulations under the oppression of the gentile nations of Persia, Greece, Egypt, Syria and Rome without a prophet to guide them during the four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah, which began at the time of the prophet Malachi (cf. Periods 3.6). They finally met John the Baptist, the one man who could lead them to the Messiah, who was coming to restore Canaan worldwide.

Thus, John the Baptist, like Moses, was called on the foundation of a four-hundred-year period for the separation of Satan. Moses had learned to love his brethren and the traditions of his fathers while living in the Pharaoh’s palace. Likewise, John the Baptist learned the way of faith and obedience to Heaven and made preparations for the Messiah while living on locusts and wild honey in the wilderness. His life was so exemplary that many people, including the priests and Levites, wondered whether he might be the Messiah (John 1:19); (Luke 3:15). In this way, John the Baptist successfully established the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan and was able to lay the foundation of faith for the first worldwide course to restore Canaan.

3.1.2 The Foundation of Substance

Since John the Baptist stood in the same position as Moses, he likewise stood in the dual positions of parent and child. From the position of parent, he restored through indemnity the foundation of faith. From the position of child, he secured the position of Abel for the fulfillment of the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature (cf. Moses and Jesus 2.1.2). John the Baptist recovered a foundation on the world level comparable to that of Moses when he laid the foundation of faith for the first national course after forty years inside the Pharaoh’s palace.

In Moses’ day, God’s desire at the first dispensation to start was that the Israelites develop trust in Moses when they witnessed him killing an Egyptian taskmaster. The Israelites were then to leave the satanic world of Egypt and travel to the land of Canaan. In John the Baptist’s time, however, the Jewish people were not to leave the Roman Empire and set out for another land. They were to remain within the empire, win over its people, and restore the empire to God’s side. God conducted the dispensation to start by encouraging the Jewish people to believe in John through the miracles surrounding his life.

At John’s conception, an angel gave a wondrous prophecy concerning the child. When his father Zechariah did not believe it, he was struck dumb, and his speech returned only after he circumcised and named the child. Through these and other miracles, the Israelites were convinced that John was a prophet sent by God: Fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him (Luke 1:65-66). Moreover, John led an illustrious life of prayer and asceticism in the wilderness, living on locusts and wild honey. The general public and even the priests admired him so highly that many thought he might be the Messiah (Luke 3:15).

When Moses finished the forty-year indemnity period in the Pharaoh’s palace and killed the Egyptian, the Israelites should have been deeply inspired by his love for his people and followed him with faith. They would have then gone straight into Canaan, without having to cross the Red Sea or wander in the wilderness, and without need of the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant or the Tabernacle. Likewise, the Jewish people in Jesus’ time were to believe in and follow John the Baptist, whom God had raised up through miracles and signs as the focus of their faith. Thus, they would fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and lay the foundation of substance, thereby immediately establishing the foundation for the Messiah.

3.1.3 The Failure of the First Worldwide Course to Restore Canaan

The Jewish people stood upon the foundation of faith laid by John the Baptist and followed John as if they were following the Messiah (Luke 3:15). Thereupon, they brought an end to the Old Testament Age and were ready to embark upon a new course to restore Canaan worldwide. Yet, as was explained earlier (cf. Messiah 2). John the Baptist harbored doubts toward Jesus, even though he had testified to him. He sent a delegation and asked Jesus, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3). He denied that he was Elijah even though he in fact came to fulfill Elijah’s mission (John 1:21). This not only blocked the Jewish people’s path to Jesus, it even led them to oppose him.

In effect, John left the position of Abel, depriving the Jewish people of the central person with whom they could fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. This blocked their way to complete the foundation of substance or the foundation for the Messiah. Consequently, the first worldwide course to restore Canaan was aborted. As was the case in Moses’ days, it was prolonged to a second and then a third course.

3.2 The Second Worldwide Course to Restore Canaan

3.2.1 The Foundation of Faith

3.2.1.1 Jesus Takes On the Mission of John the Baptist

In relationship to Jesus, the perfect Adam, John the Baptist came in the role of the restored Adam. He was to establish the foundation for the Messiah, thus completing all the unfinished missions of the central figures of the past who had labored to restore the foundations of faith and substance. Upon this foundation, he was to present all the fruits of providential history to Jesus and guide the Jewish people, who trusted and followed him, to receive Jesus. Finally, he himself should have attended Jesus with faith and devotion.

Even though John the Baptist did not know it, the baptism which he gave to Jesus at the Jordan River (Matt. 3:16) was in truth a ceremony of offering Jesus all of John’s lifelong accomplishments for the sake of God’s Will.

Nevertheless, because John the Baptist gradually came to doubt Jesus and finally even undermined his work, the Jewish people, who had the highest esteem for John, were compelled to disbelieve in Jesus (cf. Messiah 2.2). Consequently, the foundation of faith which John had laid for the first worldwide course to restore Canaan was invaded by Satan. Jesus himself now had to take on John’s mission and restore through indemnity the foundation of faith in order to set out on the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. When Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness, it was to separate Satan for the very purpose of restoring the foundation of faith; however, for this he lowered himself to assume the position of John the Baptist.

Jesus, who came as God’s only begotten Son and the Lord of Glory, was not meant to walk a path of suffering (I Cor. 2:8). Rather, it was for John the Baptist, born with the mission to make straight the way of Jesus (John 1:23); (Luke 1:76), to go through tribulations. However, because John did not complete his responsibility, Jesus had to undergo suffering in John’s place. Jesus enjoined Peter not to reveal to the Jewish people that he was the Messiah (Matt. 16:20) because, although he was the Messiah, he had assumed John’s role for the purpose of beginning this phase of the providence.

3.2.1.2 Jesus’ Forty-Day Fast and Three Temptations in the Wilderness

Let us examine the remote and immediate causes behind Jesus’ forty-day fast and his three temptations.

In the national course to restore Canaan, when Moses stood before the rock, he turned faithless and struck the rock twice. As a result, the rock, symbolizing Jesus (I Cor. 10:4), was defiled by Satan. This act affirmed the possibility that centuries later, when Jesus came to walk in the footsteps of Moses’ course, John the Baptist might become faithless and Satan could then attack Jesus, the fulfillment of the rock. Moses’ act also affirmed the possibility that Satan might invade the foundation of faith laid by John the Baptist. Hence, Moses’ act of striking the rock twice was the remote cause which, should John lose faith, would compel Jesus to endure a forty-day fast and face three temptations in the wilderness for the purpose of restoring the foundation of faith.

John the Baptist actually did become faithless (cf. Messiah 2.3). and Satan invaded the foundation of faith which John had laid. This was the immediate cause of Jesus undertaking a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan by fasting for forty days and overcoming the three temptations. By doing this from the position of John the Baptist, Jesus restored through indemnity the foundation of faith.

It is written that after forty days, Satan tested Jesus three times. First, he showed Jesus stones and tempted him to turn them into loaves of bread. Next, he took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and challenged him to throw himself down. Finally, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and offered to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship him (Matt. 4:1-10).

What was Satan’s purpose in giving Jesus the three temptations? In the beginning, God created human beings and gave them three great blessings – perfection of individual character, multiplication of children, and dominion over the natural world (Gen. 1:28) – by which they might accomplish the purpose of creation. By inducing the first human ancestors to fall, Satan deprived humankind of the three great blessings and thus prevented the fulfillment of the purpose of creation. By inducing the first human ancestors to fall, Satan deprived humankind of the three great blessings and thus prevented the fulfillment of the purpose of creation. Jesus came into the world to accomplish the purpose of creation by restoring these blessings. Therefore, Satan tempted Jesus three times in an attempt to prevent him from restoring the three blessings and accomplishing the purpose of creation.

How, then, did Jesus confront and overcome the three temptations?

First, let us examine how Satan came to be in a position to impose temptations on Jesus.

Satan first took such a dominant position when, in the national course to restore Canaan, he claimed possession of the rock and the tablets of stone, which symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride. This was possible because Moses broke the tablets of stone and struck the rock twice in anger at the faithlessness of the people. In the worldwide course, when John the Baptist failed his responsibility, the Jewish people became as disbelieving and disobedient as the Israelites were in Moses’ time. Therefore, as God had already foreshadowed in Moses’ course, Satan rose to a position of power from which he could impose temptations on Jesus.

After Jesus completed the forty-day fast in the wilderness, Satan appeared before him and tempted him, saying, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matt. 4:3).

Satan had possession of the stone. He had claimed the water-giving rock and the tablets of stone based on the condition first set by Moses’ mistakes and then brought to fruition by John the Baptist’s faithlessness. Moses had first obtained the stone after fulfilling dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan in the wilderness. To purify and recover the stone, Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days. Satan was well aware that Jesus went into the wilderness for this purpose, and his intention in giving the first temptation was to keep the stone in his possession. Jesus suffered from hunger in the wilderness, just as the Israelites had in Moses’ day. When the Israelites could not overcome their hunger but fell into faithlessness, this eventually let Satan claim possession of the stone. Likewise, if Jesus were to lose faith and satisfy his hunger by turning the stone into bread, abandoning his effort to restore the stone, Satan would possess the stone forever.

Jesus’ answer to this temptation was, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

Originally, human beings were created to live on two kinds of nourishment. The body lives on the nourishment obtained from the physical world, while the spirit lives by receiving the love and truth of God. However, since fallen people cannot receive the Word directly from God, their spirits have life by the words of Jesus, who came as the incarnation of God’s Word (John 1:14). Jesus said, “I am the bread of life….unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:48-53). He meant that a person does not live a complete and wholesome life merely by eating bread to keep his body alive. His life is not full unless he lives by Jesus, who came as the life-giving nourishment for the spirit.

Indeed, the stone in Satan’s hands – signifying the rock and the tablets of stone which Moses had lost – symbolized the very self of Jesus (1 Cor. 10:4); (Rev. 2:17) who was being subjected to this temptation. In his reply, Jesus meant that although he was starving, he was less concerned about obtaining bread which could keep his body alive than he was with becoming the incarnate Word of God who could nourish every spirit with life. With that heart, Jesus was determined to triumph over Satan. Furthermore, this test was conducted so that Jesus might re-establish the position of the Messiah, the one who has attained perfection of his individual character, by overcoming the temptation from the position of John the Baptist.

Jesus defeated Satan because he spoke and acted in full accordance with the Principle. By his victory over his temptation, Jesus fulfilled the condition to restore the individual nature to prefection and thereby established the basis for the restoration of God’s first blessing.

Next, Satan brought Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and challenged him, saying, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” (Matt. 4:6).

Jesus referred to himself as the Temple (John 2:19), and it is written that Christians are temples of God (I Cor.3:16) and members of the body of Christ (I Cor. 12:27). From this we can understand that Jesus is the main temple while the believers are like branch temples. Jesus came as the Lord of the Temple. Even Satan had to acknowledge his position; thus he put Jesus on the top of the Temple. When Satan dared Jesus to throw himself down, it meant that he wanted to usurp Jesus’ position as the Lord of the Temple by enticing Jesus to fall from that position to the lowly state of a fallen person.

At that moment Jesus answered him, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Matt. 4:7).

Originally, angels were created to be governed by people who have realized their God-given nature. Hence, even fallen angels should rightfully submit to Jesus, their Lord. Accordingly, it was an unprincipled act for an angel to attempt to usurp the position of the Lord of the Temple from Jesus. Jesus’ response meant that Satan should not test God by tempting Jesus, the incarnation of God, who works His providence in strict accordance with the Principle. Moreover, by prevailing in the first temptation and restoring his individual character as the incarnate Temple, Jesus had already secured the position of the Lord of the Temple. Therefore, Satan had no condition to tempt Jesus again, but should have retreated at that point.

By overcoming the second temptation, Jesus, the main temple, the bridegroom and the True Parent of humanity, opened the way for all people of faith to be restored to the positions of branch temples, brides and true children. Jesus thus established the basis upon which to restore God’s second blessing.

Finally, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all things under heaven and all their glory, saying, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:9).

Due to Adam’s fall, human beings lost the qualification to be the lords of creation. They fell under the dominion of Satan, who usurped Adam’s position as the creation’s master. Coming in the capacity of a perfected Adam, Jesus was the Lord of creation, as it is written, “For God has put all things in subjection under his feet” (I Cor. 15:27). Because Satan knew this from his understanding of the Principle, he led Jesus to the top of the mountain in recognition of his position as the Lord of creation. Satan then tempted Jesus, hoping that Jesus, the second Adam, might also submit to him as Adam had submitted in the beginning.

Jesus replied, “Begone, Satan! for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (Matt. 4:10).

Angels were created as ministering spirits (Heb. 1:14) to revere and serve God, their Creator. By his answer, Jesus indicated that according to the Principle even a fallen angel like Satan should worship God; by the same token, he should honor and attend Jesus, who came as the body of the Creator. Furthermore, by overcoming the two previous temptations, Jesus already had laid the basis upon which to restore God’s first and second blessings. Upon this foundation, he would naturally restore God’s third blessing and govern the creation. Jesus said, “Begone, Satan!” because there was no longer any basis for Satan to contend with Jesus over the natural world, which already stood on the firm foundation of his victory.

By prevailing in the third temptation, Jesus set up the condition to restore dominion over the natural world – God’s third blessing.

3.2.1.3 The Result of the Forty-Day Fast and the Three Temptations

According to the Principle of Creation, God’s purpose of creation is to be realized only when human beings pass through the three stages of origin, division and union and establish the four position foundation. However, Satan blocked this ideal while the first human ancestors were still in the process of building the four position foundation. Therefore, in the course of the providence of restoration, with its prolongations through three stages, God has tried to restore through indemnity all that was lost by working to fulfill dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan. Jesus prevailed over the three temptations and fulfilled the forty-day fast as a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. Thereupon, Jesus restored through indemnity, all at once, the following conditions which God had been seeking to fulfill through all the dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan throughout history.

First, in the position of John the Baptist, Jesus restored through indemnity the foundation of faith for the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. In so doing, Jesus restored all that had been offered to God over the course of the providence for the purpose of laying the foundation of faith, including: the offerings of Cain and Abel, Noah’s ark, Abraham’s sacrifice, Moses’ Tabernacle and King Solomon’s Temple. Furthermore, Jesus restored through indemnity, all at once, all the dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan conducted during the four thousand years since Adam, lost despite the best efforts of central figures to lay the foundation of faith. These included: Noah’s forty-day flood judgment, the three forty-year periods in the life of Moses and his two forty-day fasts, the forty-day mission to spy out the land, the Israelites’ forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the four hundred years from Noah to Abraham, the four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, and all other periods characterized by the number forty which had been lost since the Exodus.

Second, by rising from John the Baptist’s position to the position of the Messiah, Jesus paved the way for the fulfillment of God’s three great blessings and the restoration of the four position foundation. Having successfully made his offering, Jesus stood as the fulfillment of the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the rock and the Temple.

3.2.2 The Foundation of Substance

Jesus came as the True Parent of humanity, yet he restored through indemnity the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan while standing in the position of John the Baptist. Therefore, after he restored the foundation of faith (and rose to the position of Messiah and True Parent) he stood in the position of a parent. At the same time, when he secured the position of Abel for fulfilling the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, he stood in the position of a child (still in the role of John the Baptist with respect to that condition). In that capacity, Jesus through his forty-day fast attained the same position on the world level that Moses had assumed just after he had laid the foundation of faith for the second national course to restore Canaan by enduring a forty-year exile in the wilderness of Midian.

God conducted the dispensation to start the second national course to restore Canaan by providing the three signs and ten plagues. God conducted the dispensation to start the third national course to restore Canaan by having the people uphold the three manifestations of divine grace – the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle – and obey the Ten Commandments. These, as we recall, were given upon the foundation for the Tabernacle to restore the three signs and ten plagues lost due to the faithlessness of the Israelites. Jesus was the fulfillment of the three manifestations of grace and the Ten Commandments. Therefore, God conducted the dispensation to start the second worldwide course to restore Canaan based on Jesus’ own words and miraculous deeds. If the Jewish people (Cain) had been moved to believe in and follow Jesus, who was in the position of John the Baptist (Abel), they would have fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and restored the foundation of substance. The foundation for the Messiah would thus have been laid. Standing upon this foundation, Jesus would have risen from the position of John the Baptist to the position of the Messiah. Then, by engrafting all people with himself (Rom. 11:17), humankind would have been reborn, cleansed of the original sin, and would have become one with God in heart. They would have restored their original, God-given nature and built the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in Jesus’ day.

3.2.3 The Failure of the Second Worldwide Course to Restore Canaan

When the first worldwide course to restore Canaan ended in failure due to John the Baptist’s faithlessness, Jesus took John’s mission upon himself and suffered hardships in the wilderness for forty days. Thus, Jesus restored through indemnity the foundation of faith for the second worldwide course to restore Canaan.

It is written that Satan, who was defeated in the three temptations, left Jesus’ side “until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13), indicating that Satan had not left Jesus for good but might confront him at a future date. As a matter of fact, Satan did confront Jesus, working primarily through the Jewish leadership, the priests and scribes who disbelieved in Jesus. In particular, Satan confronted Jesus through Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed him.

Due to the faithlessness of such people, Jesus could lay neither the foundation of substance nor the foundation for the Messiah for the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. The second worldwide course thus ended in tragic failure.

3.3 The Third Worldwide Course to Restore Canaan

3.3.1 The Spiritual Course to Restore Canaan under Jesus’ Leadership

In discussing the third worldwide course to restore Canaan, we should first understand in what respects this course was different from the third national course to restore Canaan.

As was explained in detail, the focus of faith for the Israelites in the third national course was the Tabernacle, the symbol of the Messiah. Even when the Israelites fell into faithlessness, the Tabernacle remained intact, standing upon the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle which Moses had laid during his forty-day fast. When Moses also became faithless, the Tabernacle remained intact, preserved by Joshua’s stewardship and the foundation for the Tabernacle which he had laid during the forty-day mission to spy out the land. However, in the worldwide course to restore Canaan, the focus of faith for the Jewish people was Jesus himself, who came as the fulfillment of the Tabernacle. When even his disciples became faithless, Jesus had to walk the path of death and be crucified, as he had foretold, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14).

As a consequence, the Jewish people lost the one who should have been the spiritual and physical focus of their faith. They no longer had a basis upon which to begin the third worldwide course to restore Canaan as a substantial course, as the Israelites had when they commenced the third national course. Rather, Christians, as the Second Israel, were to begin this course as a spiritual course by exalting the resurrected Jesus as their focus of faith. Foreseeing this, Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Then, just as Joshua succeeded to Moses’ mission and completed the third national course, Christ at the Second Advent will succeed the mission of Jesus. He will complete, both spiritually and physically, the third worldwide course to restore Canaan.

Accordingly, unless the returning Christ comes in the flesh, as Jesus did, he cannot inherit Jesus’ mission, much less fulfill the purpose of the providence of restoration.

3.3.1.1 The Spiritual Foundation of Faith

When the second worldwide course to restore Canaan ended in failure due to the Jewish people’s rejection of Jesus, the foundation of faith which Jesus had laid during his forty-day fast from the position of John the Baptist was lost to Satan. After Jesus gave up his body on the cross, he resumed John the Baptist’s mission spiritually. During the forty-day period from his resurrection to his ascension, Jesus triumphed over Satan and broke all his chains. By doing so, Jesus restored the foundation of faith for the spiritual course in the third worldwide course to restore Canaan. This is the heretofore undisclosed reason behind this forty-day period.

How, then, did Jesus lay the spiritual foundation of faith? God had personally been guiding His beloved chosen people until the time Jesus appeared as the Messiah. Yet from the moment they turned against His only begotten Son, God tearfully had to turn His back and allow Satan to lay claim to them.

Nonetheless, God’s purpose in sending the Messiah was to save the Jewish people and all humanity. God was determined to save humankind, even though it meant delivering Jesus into the hands of Satan.

Satan, on the other hand, was fixed on killing one man, Jesus Christ, even though he might have to hand back all of humanity, including the Jewish people, to God. Satan knew that the primary goal of God’s four-thousand-year providence of restoration was to send the Messiah. He thought that by killing the Messiah he could destroy the entire providence of God.

In the end, God handed over Jesus to Satan as the condition of indemnity to save all humankind, including the Jewish people who had turned against Jesus and fallen into Satan’s realm.

Satan exercised his maximum power to crucify Jesus, thereby attaining the goal he had sought throughout the four-thousand-year course of history. On the other hand, by delivering Jesus to Satan, God set up as compensation the condition to save sinful humanity.

How did God achieve this?

Because Satan had already exercised his maximum power in killing Jesus, according to the principle of restoration through indemnity, God was entitled to exercise His maximum power. While Satan uses his power to kill, God uses His power to bring the dead to life. As compensation for Satan’s exercise of his maximum power in killing Jesus, God exercised His maximum power and resurrected Jesus. God thus opened the way for all humanity to be engrafted with the resurrected Jesus and thereby receive salvation and rebirth.

It is clear from the biblical record that the resurrected Jesus was not the same as he had been when he had lived with his disciples before his crucifixion. The resurrected Jesus was no longer a man seen through physical eyes, because he transcended time and space. He appeared to his disciples inside a room with closed doors (John 20:19). He accompanied two disciples traveling toward Emmaus for a long distance. Yet they did not recognize him until much later, when he made himself known, at which point he suddenly vanished out of sight (Luke 24:15-31).

By passing through the forty-day period of his resurrection and thereby separating Satan, Jesus laid the foundation of faith for the spiritual course. He thus opened the way to redeem humanity’s sins.

3.3.1.2 The Spiritual Foundation of Substance

Through his resurrection appearances, Jesus fulfilled the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan while standing in the position of John the Baptist in spirit. He thereby laid the foundation of faith for the spiritual course in the position of the spiritual True Parent. At the same time, from the position of a child, he secured the position of Abel for fulfilling the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. This spiritual foundation of faith which Jesus laid for the third worldwide course to restore Canaan was comparable to the foundation of faith which Moses laid for the third national course through forty years in the wilderness.

God had worked the dispensation to start in Moses’ day by having him establish the foundation for the Tabernacle. However, the resurrected Jesus was himself the spiritual fulfillment of the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle. He gathered his scattered disciples from all over Galilee and worked the dispensation to start by giving them the power to perform signs and miracles (Matt. 28:16-20); (Mark 16:15-18).

The resurrected Jesus stood spiritually in the position of John the Baptist and the position of Abel. The faithful believers stood in the position of Cain. By believing in Jesus and following him devotedly, they fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and restored the spiritual foundation of substance.

3.3.1.3 The Spiritual Foundation for the Messiah

Upon Jesus’ crucifixion, his eleven remaining disciples were demoralized and scattered. After his resurrection, however, Jesus gathered them in one place and commenced a new phase of the providence: the restoration of spiritual Canaan. The disciples chose Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot and fill the vacancy among the twelve. By believing in Jesus and following him at the cost of their lives, they laid the spiritual foundation of substance and the spiritual foundation for the Messiah. Upon this foundation, Jesus ascended from the position of the spiritual mission-bearer for John the Baptist to the position of the spiritual Messiah and sent the Holy Spirit. Thereupon, Jesus and the Holy Spirit became the spiritual True Parents and began the work of giving rebirth.

Ever since the descent of the Holy Spirit at the Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). the resurrected Jesus as the spiritual True Father and the Holy Spirit as the spiritual True Mother have worked in oneness to grant spiritual rebirth by spiritually engrafting believers with themselves. This is the work of spiritual salvation (cf. Messiah 1.4), which established a realm of resurrection inviolable by Satan.

Even though we may by faith unite with Jesus in spirit, our bodies are still liable to Satan’s attack, as was the case with Jesus himself. In other words, our physical salvation still remains unaccomplished. Still, if we believe in the resurrected Jesus, he will guide us to enter spiritually his realm of resurrection, which is invulnerable to satanic invasion. There we are released from the conditions which allow Satan to accuse us, and we are spiritually saved.

3.3.1.4 The Restoration of Spiritual Canaan

By believing in and serving the resurrected Jesus, who stands upon the spiritual foundation for the Messiah, Christians can accomplish the restoration of spiritual Canaan and enter its realm of grace. On the other hand, the physical bodies of Christians stand in the same position as Jesus’ body, which was assaulted by Satan through the crucifixion. Christians are still stained with the original sin (Rom. 7:25) and are just as much in need of purifying themselves from satanic influences as were people who lived before the coming of Jesus. Hence, Christians still must walk the course for the separation of Satan to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ (cf. Messiah 1.4).

The resurrected Jesus is the spiritual fulfillment of the Temple. He realized worldwide the ideal of the Tabernacle which Moses had upheld in the national course to restore Canaan. The most holy place and the holy place, representing the spirit and flesh of Jesus, were fulfilled as spiritual realities through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The ideal of the mercy seat has been realized through the works of salvation given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit, enabling God to appear in their works and impart His Word. On the mercy seat, where God’s Word is proclaimed, the cherubim that had blocked our path since the Fall were parted, opening our way to enter the Ark of the Covenant and receive Jesus, the Tree of Life. There we can partake of the manna provided by God and witness the greatness of God’s power that once caused Aaron’s staff to bud (Heb. 9:4-5). As we have learned by studying Moses’ course, the delays in God’s providence were not predetermined, but were caused by people’s faithlessness. Likewise, Jesus’ crucifixion and the need for his return were not originally predestined by God.

3.3.2 The Course to Restore Substantial Canaan under the Leadership of Christ at the Second Advent

We have already explained why the third worldwide course to restore Canaan began as a spiritual course, not as a substantial course like the third national course to restore Canaan.

This spiritual providence began when, upon the spiritual foundation for the Messiah, Jesus could stand as the spiritual Messiah and his followers believed and obeyed him. This providence has passed through a long two-thousand-year course of history, expanding to construct a worldwide spiritual dominion. While Moses could enter Canaan only in spirit, Joshua walked the national course as a substantial course and actually conquered the promised land.

Likewise, while Jesus has been restoring Canaan as a worldwide spiritual realm, Christ at the Second Advent is to complete this third worldwide course as a substantial course and build the actual Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Christ at the Second Advent must realize, on earth, God’s ideal which was left unfulfilled at the First Coming. For this reason, he must be born on earth in the flesh (cf. Second Advent 2.2).

Since Christ at the Second Advent must restore through indemnity the course of the providence of restoration left unfinished at Jesus’ coming, he may have to follow a similar course. Jesus encountered disbelief among the Jewish people and had to walk a course of bitter suffering. Likewise, if Christians, the Second Israel, reject Christ at the Second Advent, he will have to go through tribulations comparable to those Jesus suffered. He will have to repeat Jesus’ painful course and restore it through indemnity, but this time during his earthly life. For this reason, Jesus said, “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation” (Luke 17:25).

At the First Coming, Jesus at the end had to forsake the First Israel, which had been called for his sake, and elect the Christians as the Second Israel to commence the new spiritual providence. Similarly, at Christ’s Second Coming, if the Christians reject him in disbelief, he will have to abandon them, raise up a Third Israel, and work with them to bring the providence to its fulfillment on the earth. If the Lord’s forerunners, who are entrusted with missions like that of John the Baptist, do not complete their responsibilities, then he will have to lower himself to assume the role of John the Baptist and establish the foundation of faith for the substantial course in the third worldwide course to restore Canaan. In such an eventuality, he will walk a path of suffering.

However arduous the path he may walk, Christ at the Second Advent will not die without fulfilling the providence of restoration. This is because God’s providence to raise up the True Parents of humankind (cf. Christology 4.1.1) and fulfill the purpose of creation through them will be successful on the third attempt. This providence began with Adam, was prolonged through Jesus, and will bear its fruit without fail at the Second Advent.

Moreover, as will be discussed below (cf. Parallels 7.2.6), God’s spiritual providence of restoration during the two thousand years since Jesus’ day has prepared a democratic social and legal environment which will protect Christ at the Second Advent. Jesus was killed after being branded a heretic by the Jews and a rebel by the Roman Empire. In contrast, even if Christ at the Second Advent is persecuted as a heretic, in the democratic society to which he will come, such accusations will not be sufficient grounds for him to be condemned to death. Therefore, no matter how bitter his tribulations may be, Christ at the Second Advent will be able to lay the foundation of faith on the earth. Standing upon it, he will gather disciples of indomitable faith. He will guide these followers to fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and establish the foundation of substance. The foundation for the Messiah for the substantial course in the third worldwide course will be established without fail.

When Moses was the central figure in the third national course to restore Canaan, God worked the dispensation to start based on the rock. When Joshua was the central figure, God conducted the dispensation to start based on the water from the rock, which is more internal than the rock. Similarly, at Jesus’ coming, God conducted the dispensation to start through miracles and signs, but at Christ’s Second Advent God will conduct the dispensation to start based on the Word, which is more internal than miracles and signs. As was explained earlier, (cf. Eschatology 3.2) although human beings were created through the Word (John 1:3), due to the Fall they could not fulfill its purpose. To accomplish the purpose of the Word, God has been working His providence of restoration by setting up external conditions of obedience to the Word. Finally, at the consummation of providential history, God will again send the Christ, the incarnation of the Word, and complete the providence of salvation based on the Word.

The deepest explanation of God’s purpose of creation is revealed in terms of relationships of heart. As our invisible, internal Parent, God created human beings as His substantial children. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, as the substantial object partners to God in the pattern of His dual characteristics. As God’s first substantial object partners, they were meant to be the Parents of humankind. They were meant to become husband and wife, bear and raise children, and form a family intertwining the heart of parents, the heart of husband and wife, the heart of brothers and sisters, and the heart of children. Their family would have manifested the true love of parents, the true love of husband and wife, and the true love of children. This would have been the four position foundation which realizes the three object purpose (cf. Creation 2.3.3).

In this manner, God intended to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth through His own children, born of His heavenly lineage. The primary significance of the Fall was that the first human ancestors formed a bond of blood ties with the Archangel; therefore, all of humanity has been bound to Satan’s lineage (cf. Fall 1.3.3). Every human being has been born as a child of the Devil (Matt. 3:7); (Matt. 23:33); (John 8:44). The first human ancestors fell to the position where they no longer had any connection to God’s lineage. Accordingly, the ultimate purpose of God’s providence of restoration is to transform fallen people, who have no connection to God’s lineage, into children born of God’s direct lineage.

Let us look further at the Bible for evidence of this hidden purpose behind God’s providence.

Adam’s family, whose members committed the Fall and the first murder, was bereft of any relationship with God. At Noah’s time, a direct relationship with God could not be restored due to the mistake of his second son, Ham. Nevertheless, because Noah had demonstrated utmost devotion, his family could stand in an indirect relationship with God, as a servant of servants (Gen. 9:25). This was the nature of humankind’s relationship with God attainable prior to the Old Testament Age.

Abraham, the father of faith, with his family established the family foundation for the Messiah. They and their descendants, God’s chosen people, were elevated to the position of God’s servants (Lev. 25:55). This was the nature of humankind’s relationship with God attainable in the Old Testament Age.

In the days of Jesus, the disciples, who stood upon the foundation of faith Jesus had laid from the position of John the Baptist, were elevated from the position of servants to the position of adopted children. To rise further from this state and become the children of God’s direct lineage, they should have first established the foundation of substance and the foundation for the Messiah by serving and obeying Jesus absolutely. Had Jesus stood as the Messiah upon that foundation, they could have been engrafted with him both spiritually and physically and attained complete oneness with him.

Jesus is the only Son of God, sinless and born of His direct lineage. He is the true olive tree who came to engraft all fallen people, the wild olive trees, with himself (Rom. 11:17). By thus joining them in oneness with himself, he was to cleanse them of the original sin and restore them as children born of God’s lineage. This is the work of rebirth, which was to have been conducted by Jesus and his Bride (cf. Christology 4).

Unfortunately, even Jesus’ own disciples lost faith, and Jesus died on the cross without having ascended from the position of John the Baptist or commenced the duties proper to the Messiah. After his resurrection, Jesus began his spiritual course. He laid the spiritual foundation of faith through the forty days from his resurrection to his ascension – a period for the separation of Satan – while standing in the position of spiritual John the Baptist. His disciples repented and returned to serve him with faith; thus, Jesus and his disciples established the spiritual foundation of substance and the spiritual foundation for the Messiah. Upon this foundation, Jesus stands as the spiritual Messiah and has been engrafting his faithful followers with himself – though only spiritually. As a result, faithful Christians have been elevated to become God’s spiritual children. This has been the nature of humankind’s relationship with God attainable from the time of Jesus until today.

In this spiritual providence of restoration, the spirit world has been restored first, just as in the order of creation God made the spirit world first. Humanity has been elevated to stand as God’s object partners, but only spiritually. However devout a Christian may be, since the original sin passed down through the flesh has not yet been removed, he is no different from a faithful person of the Old Testament Age in the sense that both are still bound to Satan’s lineage (cf. Messiah 1.4).

Christians are, at best, God’s adopted children, because they do not stem from His lineage. This explains why St. Paul lamented, “we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons” (Rom. 8:23).

Christ will return and restore all humanity to be God’s true children. He will return in the flesh and be born on the earth, as at his First Coming. He will restore through indemnity the course of his First Coming by walking it again.

As was explained above, the returning Christ will conduct the dispensation to start based on the Word and then complete the foundation for the Messiah both spiritually and physically. Upon that foundation, he will engraft all humanity with himself, cleansing them of the original sin and restoring them to be God’s children, born of His lineage.

At the First Coming, Jesus laid a family foundation by choosing twelve disciples and appointing three of the twelve as his chief disciples. In this, he intended to restore through indemnity the position of Jacob, who had been the central figure for the family foundation for the Messiah. By raising up seventy followers, Jesus then expanded the scope of his foundation to the clan level. In the same manner, Christ at the Second Advent will begin by laying, both spiritually and physically, the family foundation for the Messiah. He will then expand its scope to the clan, society, nation, world and cosmos. When this foundation is secure, he will finally be able to build the Kingdom of Heaven.

God’s purpose in raising up the people of the First Israel was to prepare the foundation for Jesus, that he might accomplish the goal of building the Kingdom of Heaven when he came. When they turned against him, God elected the Christians to be the Second Israel. Similarly, God’s purpose in raising up Christianity was to prepare the foundation for Christ at the Second Advent to achieve the goal of building the Kingdom of Heaven. If the Christian world should likewise turn against him, God will be left with no alternative but to forsake them and elect a Third Israel. Therefore, although Christians in the Last Days may enjoy great blessings, in fact, like the Jewish people of Jesus’ day, their situation is extremely precarious. They are liable to fall into disgrace and great misfortune.

3.4 Some Lessons from Jesus’ Course

First, Jesus’ course instructs us about God’s predestination of His Will. God predestines absolutely that His Will be accomplished and then works unceasingly until it is fulfilled. When John the Baptist failed his mission, Jesus tried to accomplish God’s Will at any cost, even to the extent of taking on John’s responsibility. When disbelief on the part of the Jewish people frustrated his attempts to build the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus still remained absolute in his determination and promised to fulfill the Will at his return.

Next, Jesus’ course demonstrates that God’s predestination concerning the manner in which His Will is to be accomplished through an individual or a nation is conditional, not absolute. That is to say, although God may have chosen a certain individual or nation to accomplish a purpose in the providence of restoration, if he fails to complete his responsibility, God will surely choose another person or nation to continue His work.

Jesus chose John the Baptist to be his chief disciple, but when he failed to complete his responsibility, Jesus chose Peter to replace him. Jesus chose Judas Iscariot to be one of his twelve disciples, but when Judas failed, Matthias was chosen to take his place (Acts 1:25). Similarly, God chose the Jewish people to accomplish the central responsibility in His providence of restoration, but when they failed, their mission passed to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46); (Matt. 21:33-43). These instances illustrate that when God chooses a person or a nation to accomplish His Will, He never predestines in absolute terms whether that person or nation will, in fact, accomplish the Will.

Jesus’ course also demonstrates that God does not interfere with a person’s efforts to fulfill his portion of responsibility, but treats him according to the results of his actions. God must have known that John the Baptist and Judas Iscariot were losing their faith. He certainly had the power to stop them from sinning. Yet God did not interfere at all in their faith, but dealt with them only based on the results of their deeds.

Finally, Jesus’ course shows that the greater a person’s mission, the greater the test he will confront. Jesus came as the second Adam. To complete his mission, he had to restore through indemnity the position Adam had occupied prior to the Fall. Since Adam became faithless and forsook God, Jesus had to restore Adam’s mistake by enduring when God forsook him, all the while showing unchanging faith. Therefore, Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and forsaken by God on the cross (Matt. 27:46).